GOD’S NEW COMMUNITY:

NEW PEOPLE LIVING NEW LIVES

Ephesians 4:25—5:2

INTRODUCTION

If you will notice the first word in our text today is the word, “therefore”.   As you have heard me say dozens of times, when you see a “therefore” you have to ask what is it there for.   Paul is telling us that the reason he is about to say what he is going to say is contained in what he just said.   In vv. 17-24 Paul tells Christians that they must not live like non-Christian, pagan Gentiles but they must recognize that they have, by trusting in Christ, put off their old non-Christian selves and they have put on the new man.   They are new because they have put on a new set of clothing, the person of Jesus Christ.   They are new people because they have clothed themselves with the ultimate New Man, Jesus Christ.  

In addition, this “therefore” is connected to a string of “therefores” that begins in 4:1, which sets forth Paul’s entire argument for chapters 4-6.   In chapters 1-3 Paul has described the amazing thing that God has done through the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus.   God has freely, graciously, through the cross of Christ made dead men and women alive.   He has destroyed all that separates these spiritually alive people from one another and from God and has made a new community, the church.   This community, which is formed through the preaching of the gospel, now displays the great wisdom of God.   It is in the church alone that humans who are complete strangers and who have no reason to love each other and many reasons to distrust each other and even hate each other, are brought together by the cross of Jesus Christ.   The church exists as the one community on earth that is gathered together by the cross of Christ and around the cross of Christ.   Our existence points to the power of God in the death of Jesus reconciling the world to himself.   We are not here, as members of Christ’s church, because of what we have done.   Rather, the church exists as a new community made up of new people because of the gracious work of God through the death of Jesus.   The logic of Paul in chapters 4-6 is contained in 2:10.   “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do.”   Chapters 4-6 describe those “good works” we were created by God to do.   Paul’s logic here is the logic of the Bible, which is simply the logic of life.   When a baby is born you know it is alive because it moves, cries, opens its eyes, etc.   Movement does not create life.   Life creates movement.   That is the logic of the “therefore”.

What Paul is doing in the passage we are considering this morning is showing how new people live in this new community, the church.   The beauty of what Paul does here is to not only show how we live but he tells us why we want to live this way.   It will help you if you see the structure of this passage.   There are three sections comprised of two commands followed by a motivation for doing what is commanded.   What we will discover in this passage is what Christian behavior looks like and what it is that motivates us to behave in a Christian manner.   (Let me give you a word of caution.   This passage is made up of commands.   Paul tells us exactly how we are to live and not to live.   The danger that exists for each one of us is to listen to these instructions and to think of how they apply to other people.   “I’m sure glad my husband is hearing this” is a certain sign that you are not listening as you ought.   Thinking, “I wish Betty Lou could hear what the pastor is saying so we could get along”, reveals that you are not applying this to yourself.   The natural response to these commands is to wonder why all these other Christians aren’t obeying them, instead of wondering why I’m not obeying them.)

MAIN POINT

Christians, who are members of a new community and recipients of a new life, live radically new lives because they want to…

I.   Keep the devil out of the church (vv. 25-27)

The first behavior that Paul says should not characterize Christians is falsehood.   Christians are to not lie, not deceive, and not be hypocritical.   Rather we are to be people who speak the truth to one another.   We are to not lie but only tell the truth because we are neighbors; we are members of the same body.   Right away Paul points out that the primary way you can tell that people have put off the old man and put on the new man, been given life, been made citizens of God’s kingdom and members of his family is by the way they treat other Christians.   We are to be honest in our dealings with all people but the chief evidence that you belong to Christ is that you are honest in your dealings with other Christians.   (NOTE: The fact that Paul begins this section with a reference to the body of Christ and ends in v. 32 with the phrase, “one another”, lets us know that in all of these commands his primary interest is in how we treat other Christians.   He is simply repeating what Jesus said when he said the primary evidence that we are his followers is how we treat one another.)

Why do we lie and deceive others?   We lie because we are trying to keep what we have or get what we don’t have.   We lie in order to impress others, to persuade them to like us and affirm us.   We use deception to get others to agree with us so that we can have our way.   We pretend to be what we are not or to cover up what we are so that others will admire us.   We deceive others in order to gain or preserve power.   If we think about why it is that politicians lie we can see why all of us lie.   Politicians lie, deceive, and cover up who they really are and what they have really done and said in order to preserve and build their reputation.   Deception is used in order to get re-elected or to get legislation passed or a policy adopted.

Why is lying and deception bad for a relationship, a family, a community?   Deception destroys relationships and communities because trust is the foundation of all good relationships and all healthy communities.   If you can’t trust what someone says, then you cannot have a relationship with him or her.   If you cannot trust that the other person is truly interested in your welfare because they have lied to you, then it is difficult to entrust yourself to them.   When you use lies and deception to gain approval and get your way, you undermine what holds relationships together.   You destroy what enables communities to function together.

The next command that Paul gives has been severely twisted in the hands of many modern teachers.   I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard teachers and counselors, including a couple of my seminary professors use this verse to teach that anger is not a sin.   Rather it is what you do with your anger that is a sin.   Now I admit that the way that Paul states his position sounds funny in our English translations.   However, you have to completely ignore the context and the rest of the Bible’s teaching on anger to make this verse say that it’s OK to be angry, what you must learn to do is to manage your anger.   What this verse says is what the rest of the Scriptures say about anger: it is sinful and you must get rid of it.   Andrew Lincoln in his commentary gives this extended paraphrase to express the point that Paul is making, “Avoid anger at all costs but if you do find yourself angry get rid of it right away.   Don’t let the day end without getting rid of it.”   In Matthew 5: 21-22 Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not murder’ and ‘Anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’   But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.”   Jesus says that feeling the emotion of anger towards another human being is equivalent to murder in the sight of God and will be subject to the same punishment as that of a person who actually murders.   In 1 John 3 the apostle John says, “Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.”   Having the emotion of hatred towards someone else is the same as murder in God’s sight and deserves the same punishment.   Even in this immediate context, in v. 31, Paul says to “get rid of rage and anger”.   There is no way that in a few short verses Paul is going to say that anger is OK and that it is not OK.   Anger is murder and must be gotten rid of immediately through repentance and faith in the promises of God.

My guess is that most of you think that you are not responsible for your emotions.   You often say things like this: “You make me so angry.”   You probably would agree with a couple of my seminary professors who said that emotions are neither moral nor immoral, they simply exist.   You cannot tell people how they should feel.   That is simply not true.   God commands all sorts of emotions.   “Rejoice always.”   “Love one another.”   “Fear God.”   “Do not fear man.”   “Do not worry about anything.”   I will agree that you cannot change your emotional condition by simply telling yourself to stop it.   However, you can change how you feel as you learn to love what is good, hate what is evil and live by faith in the promises of God.   Emotions are simply the indicator lights on the dashboard of your life that reveal what it is that you love.   Emotions show what you are trusting in for happiness, what you have determined you must have to enjoy life.   God has given you emotions to help you determine what or who it is that you love.

Here is how this works.   A parent asks a child to do the dishes while she is gone to the store.   When she returns the dishes are not done.   The parent becomes angry and yells at the child.   That anger, even if there was not yelling is murder.   What does this anger tell the parent about the condition of her heart?   She believes that being respected and obeyed by the child is what she must have to be happy.   Her heart loves a hassle free life.   Her heart needs an obedient child in order to be content.   She does not believe that Jesus Christ dying on the cross for her sins is enough.   In fact, whenever you or I become angry we are treating Jesus and his death as if he is a nobody and a nothing.   A teenager discovers that his younger brother has worn his favorite T-shirt.   He becomes furious and yells at his younger brother.   This anger he feels is murder and he deserves to go to hell for it.   The reason is because the anger shows that he loves his clothes more than he loves God.   He needs to have his stuff to himself more than he needs to be forgiven and loved by God.

Verse 27 gives the reason to not lie and to not be angry.   The reason is that when you lie and when you are angry you give Satan a place in your family, your life, and your church.   Deception and anger are always an invitation to Satan to come join you and the community of which you are a part.   What is fascinating about this statement is that Jesus in John 8 says that Satan is a murderer and a liar.   When you deceive and when you are angry you are living just like Satan.   Do you want to invite the devil into your home?   If you do, then be angry or don’t tell the truth.   Have you ever marveled at how quickly your home can become a cauldron of bitterness and anger?   The reason is that when you lie and when you give room to anger in your heart you invite Satan to dinner and he works to make a bad situation worse.   It is his design to destroy the people of God and to disrupt the peace that Christ has obtained through the cross.   He does this by magnifying hostility and hatred, by multiplying lies and deception.   I plead with you to put off falsehood and speak truthfully to one another and to not give room to anger so that Satan does not gain a place in your family or in our church.

Christians, who are members of a new community and recipients of a new life, live radically new lives because they want to…

•  Keep the devil out of the church

•  And because they want to…

II.   Please the Holy Spirit who preserves the church (vv. 28-30)

The next behavior that Paul tells us that Christians do not participate in is theft.   We are not to steal the property of others.   Theft, like deception and like anger destroys the peace.   Stealing shows that we do not trust God or love God but that we trust ourselves and love what we steal.   However, Paul does not stop with a simple prohibition, he also tells us that rather than using our hands to steal we should use our hands to work hard at some useful task in order that we might be able to help those who are in need.   By putting this prohibition with this command we can see that Paul has something larger in mind than simply stopping theft and promoting hard work.   Theft is the logical outcome of a life that is centered upon itself.   The thief is not concerned about anyone but himself.   He does not care about the impact of his behavior on others.   He or she is a taker.   Paul says that Christians are not takers.   We are givers.   We work hard so that we can meet the needs of others.   While the primary need here is physical, yet it would include all kinds of needs.   Every other time Paul uses this verb for work he uses it to describe the work of apostles and pastors of preaching the gospel and helping others.   In Acts 20:35 he says, “In everything I did I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”   When you become a Christian and enter into the church, you enter it not looking to take from others, not looking for what you can receive but looking to give.   Christians are bent on working hard in order to meet the needs of others.   We don’t work hard to get others to meet our needs.

We not only do not use our hands to take from others but we also do not use our mouths to take from others.   We not only use our hands to meet the needs of others but we also use our mouths to meet the needs of others.   The word that is translated “unwholesome” is the word for rotten, spoiled fruit.   Jesus uses the word most often of evil speech.   “Make the tree good and its fruit will be good or make the tree rotten and its fruit will be rotten.   For a tree is recognized by its fruit.   You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good, for out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.”   The evidence of a new heart is a new way of speaking.   Those who have put off their old self and put on the new self, those who have been reconciled to God and made members of his family now use their mouths not to spread rottenness but to do good.   They use their mouths to do good, not to do evil.   Our mouths can be used to promote the common good or our mouths can be used to spread evil and bring harm to others.   The childhood chant, “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me” is simply not true.   As James says, “The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body.   It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.”

Notice in v. 30 Paul gives the motive for not stealing but working hard to meet the needs of others and for not speaking rotten words but only words that benefit others.   He says that we are to not grieve the Holy Spirit.   The point is that when we steal, when we live our lives trying to get from others rather than to give, when we use our mouths to harm others rather than to help others, then we are causing grief to the Holy Spirit.   This is a very strong word.   It is the grief our Lord felt in the garden of Gethsemanee when he contemplated the suffering he was to endure.   It is the grief the disciples felt when Jesus was crucified.   It is the grief Paul felt when he was being tortured.   This is the kind of grief we bring to the Holy Spirit when we do not work hard to meet the needs of others or speak to help others.   Notice that Paul describes the Holy Spirit as the one who seals Christians for the day of redemption.   In other words, it is the Holy Spirit who marks us as belonging to God and makes sure we remain a part of the church all the way until the day Christ returns.   He is the one who is the down payment on heaven, who guarantees that all who belong to Christ make it safely to their heavenly home.   Do you see the power of Paul’s logic here?   If you are a Christian then the Holy Spirit is working every moment of your entire life to make sure that you make it to heaven.   He loves you and is only working for your good and the good of the church.   Do you want to please this powerful and gracious Spirit or do you want to grieve him?   Do you want to make him happy?   If so, then work for the good of others and speak only words that benefit others.

Christians, who are members of a new community and recipients of a new life, live radically new lives because they want to…

•  Keep the devil out of the church

•  Please the Holy Spirit who preserves the church

•  And because they want to…

III.   Imitate God, who forgives and loves the church (vv. 31-5:2)

Paul concludes his discussion of the lifestyle that characterize the new life we have been given by prohibiting a list of emotions and the behaviors that flow from those emotions.   In v. 31 he tells us what we are to get rid of and in vv. 32-5:2 he tells us how to get rid of them.   He begins with telling us to get rid of bitterness.   Bitterness is that state of heart that arises when we feel that we have not been treated as we deserve.   Bitterness rises in our hearts when people do not meet our expectations, when we are disappointed and hurt by the rudeness or indifference of others.   Bitterness is ongoing resentment.   It is usually the result of a critical and demanding spirit.   At the core, it is the result of a demand to be treated well by others and when we are not treated as we want we are hurt and angry and resentful and we become bitter.   It is what happens when we do not get what we want.   You can only become bitter with those who are close to you.   You do not become bitter with people whose affection you do not crave.   You only become resentful and bitter about those with whom you have a close relationship or at least those with whom you desire a close relationship.   Bitterness can come because of real injustices or because of perceived injustices.   It doesn’t matter how you got bitter.   Bitterness is always sin and must always be rejected by the child of God.

He also tells us to get rid of rage and anger.   These words are used interchangeably throughout the Bible.   Why does he pile up these three words that basically describe the same emotion?   Primarily he wants to persuade us that we must deal violently with the violent emotions that we have.   If we feel offended, hurt, and therefore angry, we are not to meditate upon how right we are to be hurt and angry.   We must view every movement in our heart towards anger and bitterness as an enemy to be defeated.   We must never say “I have a right to be angry.”   We must never say “it is understandable that I feel this way, who can blame me.”   The fact is that God blames you for the emotions of bitterness, rage and anger.   It’s not only the emotions we must get rid of but also the language that flows from the emotions.   The word translated “brawling” refers primarily to that aggressive language and action that seeks to intimidate and punish those by whom we feel harmed.   It is yelling at our children, our spouses, the driver that cut us off, the umpires that made a bad call.   Slander is not as noticeable as brawling.   Slander takes place in private, in one to one conversations and small groups.   Slander is that speech that seeks to question the motives and character of those with whom we are angry and bitter.   Slander is harming others by destroying their reputation.   Slander is the use of language to justify to others why it is right for us to feel hurt and angry.   Slander is our seeking to prosecute and punish those who have offended us.   Finally, Paul uses a general word, “malice” to sum up the point he is trying to make.   We are to never act or speak in such a way as to bring harm to another.   Malice is a desire to repay someone for the wrong they have done us and the actions and words that are prompted by that desire for revenge.

How do you get rid of these negative, violent emotions and the behavior that flows from them?   The heart of these three verses is that we are to imitate God.   This is the exact same motive that Jesus uses to inspire the exact same behavior in Matthew 5 and Luke 6.   We are beloved children and children who are loved by their father want to be like him.   If you do not want to be like God, then you are not a beloved child because every beloved child wants to be like his or her father.   In what ways are we to be like God?   First we are to be kind, like God is kind to us.   Kindness is sensitivity to the needs of others and acting to meet those needs.   God is kind to us by giving us sun and rain and food and clothing and family and friends.   So we are kind to others in all of these ways.   Second, we are to be compassionate.   Compassion is an emotion.   We are to have the emotion of sympathy and empathy towards those who are hurting.   We are to weep with those who are weeping.   Christians are not callous to the pain of others.   We are not indifferent to those among us who are suffering.   We don’t tell people to suck it up and move on.   We come alongside those who hurt and seek to offer comfort and understanding.   Third, we are forgiving to those who hurt us.   We do not require that people pay for the harm they do to us.   We do not hold grudges.   We do not seek revenge or repayment.   We continue to love those who have harmed us.   We do not demand that we be treated well before we treat others well.   Paul’s placing of v. 31 with v. 32 shows that the people we are kind, compassionate and forgiving towards are the very Christians who have provoked bitterness, rage, anger and slander in us.   Verse 32 isn’t a command to be nice to people who are nice to you but to be nice to people who have been cruel to you.  

Here is the six million dollar question.   How are we to get rid of bitterness, rage, anger and slander and become kind, compassionate and forgiving to those other Christian who have harmed us?   We forgive as God forgave us in Christ.   We love as God loved us in Christ.   Paul brings us back to the cross of Christ.   The cross stands at the center of the Christians life and at the center of our life together.   It is only as you live under the cross and by means of the cross that you will ever be a person who is not bitter but who is kind, compassionate and forgiving.   Let’s consider, how did God forgive us in Christ?   How does God love us in Christ?   First , he took the initiative.   It was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us.   He didn’t wait until we stopped sinning against him before he sent his Son to die for us.   He didn’t require that we do anything before he acted to make forgiveness possible.   He loved us while we were still living in rebellion towards him.   But not only did God take the initiative in giving Christ for our sins but he also took the initiative by pouring out his kindness through creation upon us.   Every joy you’ve ever experienced has been given to you by the God whom you have offended by your many sins.   Not only did he send his Son to die and fill your heart with joy while still a sinner but he also sent the Holy Spirit to give you a new heart.   God has been working to reconcile you to himself in spite of your sin and contrary to what you deserve.   Christians are working to restore and reconcile fractured relationships.   Christians do not sit around and wait for others to make the first move.   We take the initiative to reconcile, forgive, and love.  

Second , he paid the debt we owe him.   Forgiveness means that God did not require that we repay the debt we owe him due to our sin.   Rather God paid the debt himself.   Forgiveness isn’t saying that it doesn’t matter or “it’s no big deal.”   When forgiveness takes place the one forgiving agrees to cancel the debt by paying it himself.   Forgiveness always involves suffering and death.   Forgiveness means I die to my right to be repaid for the harm done to me.   I bear the pain of the offense, just like Jesus did.   I do this because Jesus bore the weight of my sin and the weight of the sin of the Christian who is offending me.   Third , the Son did it for the Father.   Jesus offered himself in our place to be a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.   If we ask what is the ultimate purpose behind the death of Jesus for our sins it is the glory of his Father.   Jesus’ ultimate motive was to please his Father, to show off his Father’s wisdom, love and justice.   The cross of Jesus Christ reveals that God is just, he doesn’t simply overlook sin like some corrupt judge.   The cross also reveals that God is loving, he justifies the believing sinner.   It is the same with us.   Our ultimate reason for getting rid of bitterness and forgiving other Christians is because we are beloved children and want to glorify our loving Father.   We want to imitate him so that his justice and love is clearly revealed in the world.

We can have mercy on others because of the enormous mercy God has poured out on us in Christ.   And we can have mercy on others because God has had mercy upon them.   The debt of sin is gone.   When we refuse to forgive others and love others, we are saying that the death of Jesus was not enough for our sins or for the sins of others.   We are saying that others must pay for their sins as well.   When we refuse to forgive, we are treating the death of Christ with contempt.   We are spitting on Jesus hanging on the cross.   How do you get rid of bitterness and be kind, compassionate and forgiving?   You fix your attention on the cross of Christ and your sins nailed there and the sins of every other Christian nailed there.   You consider this great love and this great Christ and all that he is for you and so you discover the ability to love and forgive others because you want to be just like him.   We are the church because of the cross of Christ.   We join in the church for no other reason than that we trust in and love the cross of Jesus.   We know we are sinners who deserve hell and we have discovered in the cross of Jesus our only hope.   Each of us knows that this is not only true for us but also for every other member of Christ’s church.   So we live together the crucified life, dying to our need to be loved by humans because we are so loved by God.   We die to our need to be vindicated here and now because we know that Christ has vindicated us through the cross and one day will completely vindicate us.   Every wrong will be made right and every sad thing will be forgotten in the glory of that day of redemption.   So we are free from the need to make people pay and to be proved right here and so free to be kind, compassionate and forgiving to those who hurt us.

Christians, who are members of a new community and recipients of a new life, live radically new lives because they want to…

•  Keep the devil out of the church

•  Please the Holy Spirit who preserves the church

•  Imitate God, who forgives and loves the church